Too Hot to Sleep
by Muggle Jane
Summary: "When I get married, it is not going to be in August," I hissed to Ginny as we crept down the stairs. "It's going to be in January and there's going to be a metre of snow on the ground and I'm going to roll around in it." Oneshot, written for the After Midnight Challenge


**A/N: Written for the After Midnight Challenge!**

"When I get married, it is _not_ going to be in August," I hissed to Ginny as we crept down the stairs. "It's going to be in January and there's going to be a metre of snow on the ground and I'm going to roll around in it."

"Probably won't be thinking that when it's January and you're under five jumpers and two blankets, shivering and moaning about how cold it is," she whispered, somewhat crossly.

It was 2:00 in the morning, and we'd been unsuccessfully trying to sleep for hours. Finally we'd just given up and headed downstairs on the off-chance that it would be even just a little cooler down there.

There was a dim light in the kitchen. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and exchanged a look with Ginny before we proceeded into the kitchen, wands held in front of us.

"Couldn't sleep either?" the second-eldest Weasley brother greeted us, barely above a murmur. "Why'd you have to pick the hottest day of the year to get married, Gin?" he asked. He was shirtless and covered in sweat, seated at the table and drinking something cold enough that there was a fine haze of condensation on the outside. My eyes locked on it and I licked my lips before I could stop myself.

"Right, because I did it on purpose," she shot back, lowering herself into one of the other seats.

I sat as well. It was cooler down here, but not by much. I didn't envy Charlie sleeping on the third floor. I was, however, beginning to get insanely jealous of Ron and Harry not being there at all.

Charlie noticed my gaze and offered me the bottle. I took it gratefully and gulped at it before handing it to Ginny. I didn't really know what it was and I didn't care. It was cold.

"Hey, slow down with that a little," Charlie urged his sister. "If you show up completely skunked to your own wedding tomorrow, you'll have to owl me back to Romania in a box."

She glared at him, but slid the bottle back. "I'm probably going to fall asleep halfway through anyway."

"Shell Cottage," I said suddenly, my face stretching into a desperate smile.

"You really think it's a good idea to wake up Bill and Fleur and the baby?" Ginny hissed at me, folding her arms.

"No," I replied, "but there's a whole lot of ocean right there. Just imagine how good it would feel to sit down in the water."

"Mum will owl _you_ to Romania in a box if you're late for your own wedding because you went for a midnight dip," Charlie cautioned.

"Just for a little while," Ginny replied. "Hermione, you're brilliant."

I took the bottle from Charlie and had another drink. "You coming too?" I asked.

He looked between us for a moment. "If only to keep you girls out of trouble. I have a quick stop to make first, though. George," he said to Ginny's questioning look.

"You want to keep_ us_ out of trouble, and you're getting George? Doesn't that seem a little counter-productive?" she asked.

"If we go and George finds out he missed a nighttime adventure, he'll have kittens. I'll floo, I won't be a moment. I'll meet you there." He stood and drained the bottle and went back into the living room to floo. Ginny and I went outside, out of the garden and a little way into the orchard so that we wouldn't disturb her sleeping parents.

I took her hand and apparated us out to the beach by Shell Cottage. The difference in temperature was immediate and I had to clap a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing out loud in delight. Shell Cottage was dark and silent and I didn't want to wake anyone.

"Brilliant, Hermione, absolutely brilliant," Ginny repeated.

We went down the beach a little ways so that we could talk without whispering and without disturbing her eldest brother's family. I couldn't resist any longer, I walked forward until the water was lapping over my bare feet. I let out a happy sigh.

There was a slight pop from just up the beach and I turned towards it. There were four people standing there instead of the two we'd expected. It was too dark to make out features by moonlight, but judging from the shape and size, it was Charlie and George, and Harry and Ron as well.

"Charlie," Ginny scolded quietly when they got close. "Mum is going to kill me if she finds out Harry was out here with us."

"If she finds out you were out here at all, she'll kill you anyway. Why not enjoy a bit of extra time with your husband-to-be?" he answered and I could hear the smile in his voice.

Ginny went to where Harry was waiting with open arms and they kissed until it got more than a little awkward for the rest of us. I turned my attention to the horizon and I noticed that Charlie waded into the water beside me.

"Ginny's right," he said as he stepped up beside me. "You are brilliant."

"Oi, that's my sister," Ron protested just then, and the couple finally parted.

We all walked a little ways up the beach to sit in the cool sand in more-or-less a circle, Ginny between Harry's legs and leaning back against his chest.

"You are brilliant, Granger, it was hotter than the underside of-"

"Did you grab the Daisyroot?" Charlie asked, cutting George off.

"No, I thought you did," the younger brother answered.

"I only have two hands, don't I?"

Just then, a baby's cry split the night. I gave the house a sympathetic look, and a light came on.

"I'll go ask Bill if he has something to drink," George announced, pulling himself to his feet.

"Are you mental?" Ron demanded.

"A bit, mate, but it's hot and I need something to drink." He walked through the sand up to the house. He came back a short time later with a taller man who could only be Bill, both carrying several bottles. It was too dark to see what they had.

"Won't Fleur get mad at you being out here?" Ginny asked as they settled down with us.

"She told me to come out here and keep you out of trouble," he answered.

"Why does everyone think I'm going to get into trouble?" she demanded and her brothers all laughed.

The bottles were passed around. "It's just beer," Bill explained, sounding a little apologetic.

"I don't care what it is, so long as it's cold," I muttered before opening it and taking a long drink. "If your mum wouldn't make me regret even being born, I'd cut this lot off." I gestured to my mass of hair, heavy and hot.

Precisely two-and-a-half bottles of beer later, and I don't know where Bill kept pulling it from, I changed my mind. Which was how Charlie ended up kneeling behind me with a pair of conjured scissors.

"You're sure?" he asked for the fourth time.

"Just bloody do it, or I'm taking the scissors and I'll do it myself!" I snapped.

"Temper, Granger," George teased.

A second later, I heard the scissors close unmistakably near to my head. I closed my eyes. "Merlin, that's lovely," I moaned as the night air hit the back of my neck. When Charlie pronounced himself done, my head felt half as heavy as it had before. I shook my head, marveling at how different, how much cooler it felt without the mass of hair pulling it down. I turned to my impromptu barber. "I could just kiss you, Charlie Weasley."

His eyes honed in on my lips and I realized what I'd said and lifted my chin, refusing to take back what I'd said.

"Kiss him!" Ginny chimed in. "You two have been making eyes at each other since he got here yesterday. Just kiss-" she was cut off by her fiance giving her a kiss, and I made a note to thank Harry later.

Charlie sat down beside me and dropped one well-muscled arm over my shoulders. "Tell you what," he said quietly, so only I would hear. "You tell me that when you're sober tomorrow and we'll give it a go. I reckon drunk Hermione may have already done one-too-many things sober Hermione will regret." He reached up and gave my short hair a tug.

* * *

I awoke with my head on a broad chest and someone's arm across my back. I had barely a second to register immanent danger before-

"How DARE you?" Molly Weasley demanded. I braced my hand on the shirtless chest and raised my head, wincing at the invasion of noise. She stood there, hands on her hips, silhouetted in the rising sun. "Taking off in the middle of the night before your wedding? It's a good thing Fleur flooed me this morning and told me where you were!"

"I think our definitions of 'good thing' are very different," George mumbled.

"It's my fault," I said just as Molly rounded on George. "I suggested it."

Molly turned to me, a fiery scowl on her face as she noticed my less-than-decorous position with her second-eldest son, and then, "HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER! What did you do to your hair?" She just looked at me for a moment, looking very much like she was going to cry, when Bill sat up. "And you! You're supposed to be responsible! I don't even-"

There was a crack and she was gone and the rest of us were left staring at each other in the sand.

"Blimey," Ron breathed. "I think we broke Mum."

I pulled away from Charlie and stood up. The world spun around me for an instant and I put my hand out to steady myself. A large hand caught my arm, steadying me. "Oh dear," I said quietly. "I think I'm still a little drunk."

"Get some coffee in you, you'll be fine," Charlie advised. He looked up at me, then winced. "Sorry about the hair. You might want to get Mum to neaten it up a bit."

Sitting at Molly Weasley's mercy while she held a pair of scissors seemed like less than a good idea just then. I ran my free hand through my hair and it felt very suspiciously not all the same length. "I'll figure it out. Thanks, Charlie."

"I'll do it," Ginny said, pulling away from Harry and standing as well. "I don't think Mum's going to be able to look at your hair without crying for a while." She came over to me and linked her arm with mine. After a pointed look from his sister, Charlie dropped my arm and then we were at The Burrow.

* * *

I liked my hair, I decided, pushing my fingers through it. Ginny had, after two cups of coffee, sat me down and evened out the length a little bit, and I thought it looked quite good. It was certainly cooler. It was another hot day, and my head felt so deliciously light and cool.

I was sitting on a wooden chair and watching the bride and groom dance. They looked so happy and so positively enraptured with each other that I couldn't help but smile.

"Any regrets?" came a familiar deep voice. I looked over to see Charlie lowering himself into the chair next to me.

"Only that I didn't do this earlier. The air on the back of my neck is just too lovely."

"Looks good, too," he complimented, reaching up to give my hair a gentle tug. "You'll want a good hat in the winter, keep your ears warm."

I looked over at him. "I could just kiss you, Charlie Weasley," I murmured. At his questioning look, I lifted my chin defiantly.

His hand came down from my hair to rest lightly on my shoulder. He leaned forward until our lips met. His mouth was hot, insistent, and gone too soon. "May I have this dance?" he asked, offering me his hand.

I stood up and let him lead me over to the dance floor. Charlie was the shortest of the Weasley sons, and not very much taller than me. I put my arm around his waist and rested my chin on his broad shoulder and his red hair tickled my exposed ear as he swayed me gently about the dance floor.


End file.
